BASIS International Bilingual Chengdu
2024 — NSDA Campus, CN
Duo Interpretation
Event Description:
Interpretation, Solo & Duo
Purpose: This includes categories of solo performance as well as duo performance of either humorous or dramatic emotive appeal, with selections drawn from published, printed: novels, short stories, plays, poetry, or other printed, published works, PDFs, e-books, as well as limited online and recorded works as provided for in the rules below.
Categories. Contestants are permitted to construct solo and/or duo performances in the following subgenres of competition: Dramatic, Humorous, Prose, Poetry, and Program Oral Interpretation. If numbers don’t support independent divisions, solo and duo interpretation may be collapsed into a single event.
Time: The time limit in Interpretation Events is ten minutes with a 30-second “grace period.” If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period. The ranking is up to each individual judge’s discretion. Judges who choose to time are to use accurate (stopwatch function) timing devices. No minimum time is mandated.
Material: Selections used in the oral interpretation events must be cuttings from a single work of literature (one short story, play, or novel), unless poetry is used, in which case cuttings may come from one or more poems from a single source. If the source is an anthology collection of short stories, plays, or novels, each selection of literature is independent and only one selection can be used, even if it is from the same author. If the source is an anthology which includes poetry, multiple poems may be used from this single source by one or a variety of authors. Unlike the other oral interpretation events, Program Oral Interpretation may use multiple sources for the program.
Any source material is permitted as long as it meets the standards outlined below:
A. Original source material must not be written by the competitor who is performing it.
B. Original source material must be publicly accessible throughout the duration of the tournament. Digital printed publications such as web pages and PDFs retrieved or purchased from web pages as well as digital unprinted publications such as videos, audio files, and films are permitted as long as the web page is publicly accessible throughout the duration of the tournament and the competitor can obtain an official transcript of the original source.
1. For print publications such as novels, short stories, plays, or poetry, the original source is the physical book or e-book. Photocopies of original literature are not acceptable. Presenting the physical book or e-book is sufficient to prove that a printed publication is publicly accessible.
2. For digital printed publications, the original source must be publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must also present a printed manuscript to be used in the case of a protest, but presenting a printed copy of a website is not alone sufficient to prove that a digital printed publication is publicly accessible.
3. PDFs are permitted as long as the website from which the PDF is retrieved or purchased is publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must also present a printed copy of the PDF to be used in the case of a protest, but presenting a printed copy of the PDF is not alone sufficient to prove that a PDF is publicly accessible.
4. For non-English print material that a competitor will perform in English, the original source material in its original language must be publicly accessible. Competitors must present an official English translation to be used in the case of a protest.
5. For digital unprinted publications such as videos, audio files, and films, the original source must be publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must also present a printed official transcript of the original source to be used in the case of a protest, but presenting an official transcript is not alone sufficient to prove that the original source is publicly accessible. An official transcript must be obtained in one of two ways:
a. An official transcript is obtained through the original source's producer, licensing agent, or copyright holder.
b. Or, an official transcript is obtained through an official transcription service such as TranscribeMe, Scribie, or iScribed, which use non-automated, manual transcription. Then, the competitor receives approval to perform the transcription by the original source's producer, licensing agent, or copyright holder.
c. Source Verification: It is the affirmative duty of each coach and each student entered in Interpretation contests to determine absolutely that the cutting being performed meets all rules for material.
Performance: The presentation may not use physical objects or costuming. During the presentation, the contestant/team must name the author and the book or magazine from which the cutting was made. Additionally:
1. Humorous and Dramatic selections must be presented from memory. Prose, Poetry, and Program Oral Interpretation must use a manuscript. Duo Interpretation is always presented from memory.
2. In Duo Interpretation, each of the two performers may play one or more characters so long as performance responsibility in the cutting remains as balanced as possible. If the selection is prose or poetry and contains narration, either or both of the performers may present the narration.
3. Adaptations to material may only be used for the purpose of transition. Any word changes (to eliminate profane language) and/or additions (for transition) must be indicated clearly. Failure to clearly indicate the addition of words will be subject to disqualification. The voice of a script may not be changed. For example, changing “She moved to California when she was 13” to “I moved to California when I was 13” is not permitted. Combining small fractions of sentences or singular words to create humorous or dramatic dialogue, scenes, moments, and/or plot lines not intended in the original literature is prohibited. For example, it is not permitted to take one word from page 13 (e.g. home), a phrase from page 211 (e.g. ran away from), and a name, (e.g. Tyler) from page 59 to create dialogue between characters or events that do not exist in the script. Example: adding “Tyler ran away from home.” when this did not occur and was not said in the script is not permitted. Transitions only may be used to clarify the logical sequence of ideas. They are not to be used for the purpose of embellishing the humorous or dramatic effect of the literature.
4. Use of focal points and/or direct contact with the audience should be determined by the requirements of the literature being interpreted. In Duo Interpretation, focus may be direct during the introduction [the performers may look at each other] but must be indirect [off-stage] during the performance itself.
Artistic Plagiarism: Videos of previous final round performances and/or other video media are intended to
provide educational examples for coaches and students. They are not intended to serve as a model to directly
imitate or duplicate in performance. Although universal human emotions may lead to similarities in portrayal of characters, wholesale impersonation, including cutting, blocking, and/or interpretation (verbal and/or nonverbal portrayal of characters and text) of material of previous semifinal round, final round, and other video media performances is prohibited and grounds for penalty. Given the extent of the artistic plagiarism, the performance penalty may range from lowering the ranking in the round to disqualification. It is the burden of proof of the individual filing the protest to provide documented evidence of the artistic plagiarism demonstrated in the performance. This includes providing access to the plagiarized video material and written verification of examples to substantiate the complaint.
Re-Use: A student may not use a cutting from a work of literature the student used in competition in any previous contest year. A student entered in two events may not use the same selection of literature in both events.